1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for securing a heat sink to an electronic device package, and particularly to a clip that secures a heat sink to an electronic device package.
2. The Related Art
A heat sink for dissipating heat generated by an electronic device package is usually mounted in contact with the package, whereby it conducts the heat away from the package and dissipates the heat by radiation and convection. Various means have been used for putting heat sinks in intimate thermal contact with electronic device packages. For instance, a heat sink may be attached to an electronic device package by an adhesive. However, a heat sink attached in this manner often peels away from the package during transportation, resulting in failure of the assembly. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to remove such a heat sink from the electronic device package.
To solve the above problem, clips are used to attach a heat sink to an electronic device package. For example, referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, a conventional clip device is composed of a plurality of fasteners 1. Each fastener 1 has a body 14 for being securely received in a slot 22 defined in a heat sink 2, and a latch 16 extending from the body 14. In assembly, the body 14 of each fastener 1 is respectively received in the corresponding slot 22 of the heat sink 2. The latch 16 of the fastener 1 elastically engages with a corresponding bottom edge of an electronic device package 3. Thus the heat sink 2 is attached to the electronic device package 3 by the clip. However, this conventional clip device limits horizontal displacement of the heat sink 2 merely by means of limited friction between the surfaces of the various movable parts. Thus the heat sink 2 easily slides off in a horizontal direction. In addition, the clip device is easily damaged due to over distortion during assembling of the heat sink 2 to the package 3 or during disassembling thereof.
Therefore, an improved means of securing a heat sink to an electronic device package is desired, to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.